Friday Feature – BoPhoenix

When i was younger, my eldest brother used to draw all the time. he used to let me sit next to him and watch him draw, traditionally and digitally, and even let me draw in his sketchbooks sometimes. as well as this, his girlfriend at the time used to let me read her comics and manga, and she would tell me that if i wanted, i could make my own comic one day. That was probably the start of my passion for drawing.

2. Do you have any future plans for your artwork?

I do want my art to lead me into creating original comics, and hopefully animation as well, but otherwise i’m not too sure about the future for my artwork.

3. What sort of media do you use to create your artwork? How long does it take you to complete a piece of artwork?

I use both traditional and digital media. for traditional art I normally use just pencils, pens and paper, but sometimes I dip my foot into painting with watercolour and acrylics, and for digital art I use Gimp 2 most of the time, but I am testing other programs such as Krita, Painttool Sai, and FireAlpaca, although I only really use FireAlpaca to test making short animations. for traditional art, it can take from 20 minutes to two or three hours to finish a piece.Digitally, it takes me a little longer, more like two to five hours to finish, because I’m still practising colouring and shading techniques.

4. What inspires you to draw? Do you admire any other artists?

My inspirations mainly consist of my eldest brother, cartoons I watched in my early childhood, speedpaints online and art galleries that I visited a lot when I was younger.
I definitely admire a lot of artists, both classic and modern, and try to vary who I follow to make sure I get a real sense of varied styles and personalities to work from and develop my own style around.

5. Do you have any tips for any aspiring artists – beyond the usual ‘practise daily’? (These tips don’t have to be art creation related.)

my tips would be:

Don’t look at artists that have more skill than you as a threat or a reason to put your own art down. use them as a teacher; look at the art you love and think “how did they do that? do i want to replicate that?” and practise the styles or techniques you want until you can draw it with your eyes closed.

Tracing ( for younger/less developed artists ), using references and how to draw books are your best friends. use them to your advantage but don’t trace everything and claim it. practise drawing with and without tracing/references/art books and you will develop artistically.

Draw not just what you love, but what you hate. In order to become a great artist you really have to be able to draw a lot. this includes cars, buildings, detailed backgrounds and plants and animals. Just drawing humans or cartoon animals/furries and ferals will limit you to just that thing.

Force yourself to draw different things, like what you see before you! go to figure study classes, draw in the middle of a field or at the top of a hill. It will benefit you, I promise!

I think my fondest memory was when I finally finished my first massive traditional commission and saw it hanging up in the cafe that asked me to draw it for them. I couldn’t help but feel thrilled every time someone walked in and took the time to look at it! It was in the style of a comic and, being a comedic piece, it made my heart warm up when they laughed at the silly jokes in it. It definitely made me feel like that commission was worth the hard months of drawing!

7. Anything else you would like to tell our readers?

To any young artists who are doubting themselves or their art, or their future in art – keep going! Strive for what you want, not what others want from you. if you feel like you aren’t talented or good enough, change it! it’s within your power to make yourself into an amazing artist. be inspired by others, but also be your own inspiration. look back at old art and think about how far you’ve come, and how far you have to go. remember that no one is born a great artist; while some may be quicker than others, they all took time to develop.

Many thanks to BoPhoenix for taking the time to answer these questions for the Friday Feature and if you’d like to be featured on the blog then please, don’t hesitate to get in contact.